Opinel pushed to failure - but then redeemed! Steels to the max! (its X90 steel, btw) 

remember guys, this is just one example of the knife - yours may be able to take it! Sorry I didn’t get a full number, but I thought I would post for interests sake anyway. I’ll probably retest when I do the stainless opinel soon, when I get more rope.

I’ve had an opinel No 10 almost 40 years I found it in an old shed cleaned it up I’ve travelled Australia as a tour guide in remote areas and my little opinel has done everything from carving Fishing lures to gutting and cleaning fish to skinning wild cattle and I can’t find anything as sharp for the price I’ve had $400 knives that don’t compare it’s definitely not a chopper or something you can swing on but when it comes to cutting flesh and skinning I can’t find any better and cheap as chips

I'm worried that I might cut the fabric of time with this Opinel, something I've done only twice before...

I worked for them for a minute in the 90s. This a fun factoid, or whatever, but they found the balance of the steel to the angles of the convex grid, at least roughly, and anything too far more or less turns it into a piece of crap. There might be a lesson to learn here for other knife makers, but obviously these cats have been in the game for so long, that they know their apples by now. Essentially it's a cost saving effort on their part, but it's really interesting that they've managed to find the most base metal to apply their convex game to so successfully. BTW~ You have to sharpen it with 600 grit sandpaper on a soft, or thick mouse pad and draw it with pressure on the blade backward, or away from you to maintain the factory edge, which is about as good as it can get for the steel/grind combination. Salute!

In regards to the whole Unleashed to the Max series. It would be an interesting test to see how many cuts the knives do after being stropped back to paper slicing sharpness after the test. There have been tests (by Cliff Stamp for example) that show that the edge retention will become lower and lower when you don't remove the weakened metal from the edge and just strop the edge back to sharp. I would expect the drop in edge retention after stropping to be quite noticeable with these low edge angles. Knowing that the knife can be stropped back to sharp is a good data point, but knowing how much edge retention you sacrifice by doing that would be even better, at least in my opinion. Thank you for the videos.

Revisiting my favourite 'toobers' Opinel reviews. My current collection of Opinels consist of a No7, three 8s (one is the 'Black' version), a 9 (I think), a couple of 10s, and my favourite fun knife, a No 13. I just had to buy the 13 because it makes me smile whenever I look at it.

The "unleashed" part kills me every time :')

You should do a basil unleashed to the max test.

Still a great data point without finishing the test. Thanks as always for your informative and entertaining videos. Nothing like thin steel to perform well!

Thanks for posting this attempt nevertheless - it was very educational in terms of microbevel and stuff. what do you recon, all steels behave the same in this context? or there may be variations? I'm not sure, but I think I saw the benchmade barrage M390 test few years ago, where it was cutting rope longer without microbevel, but I'm pretty sure there was no extreme angles on the primary bevel

This To The Max series is awesome

Using your machine sharpening you also took a bifaced convex knife blade and sharpened it into a full flat grind edge thus taking much of the sharpness and it's ability to hold an edge out of it.

I think it’s mostly the really small stock thickness. The microbevel adds a crap ton of rigidity to the low angle edges

I'm really enjoying these new videos. I like seeing how much difference the edge angle can make. If you can get around to it, is like to see Elmax vs XHP, they both seem to be pretty good all around steels. I would also like see M390 in that vs but I'm pretty sure it would come out on top lol.

Opinels, like many traditional knives are meant to be extra easy to sharpen with mediocre sharpening tools. My bet is that the steel is really soft, like a 55 at best. These knives were meant to be used by farmers, they didn't have time to spend time and money on sharpening their knife. Opinels are not knives for the knife nuts/steel snobs etc ;) You can strop this knife on your palm (provided you don't have urban metrosexual hands made of baby ass cheeks skin) to get it sharp again (it'll unroll the edge) . In fact, you can do it with most knives ;)

Yes just got #9 couple rubs on ceramic rod. Sharp sharp sharp. Great blade.

Instead of using the Tormek here, try using 320 grit silicon carbide sandpaper on a mousepad to convex the blade down to a zero grind and then apply a micro bevel with a stone. The combination of the convex grind with a more toothy edge will give you much better strength and slicing aggression.

Excellent! Thank you for sharing the knowledge that you just learned. Much appreciated :)

It's true that an edge can be too fine so basically to sharp. I had a edge roll on the Enzo Elver I'm testing just from cutting some hard wood. A small secondary bevel with micro convex from some stropping solved the problem and is what I normal do before even taking the knife out. I did not this time because I promised to test the knife as it came off factory.

Watching you put on that Microbevel and thinking of Black Mage Village. Sounds like home to me. :)

my god that intro for particularly amazing this time

Lot of 21st century production for an old-fashioned peasant's knife. But you did get it sharp. So, there's that.

I heard of your channel from a guy doing an investigation into Huusk scam knives and it's great. Subbed and liked.

Looking forward to 1095 cro van. I can’t seem to get the perfect edge geometry with this steel.

Another interesting test. But I kinda figured it would be in high tens, if not into the hundreds, purely based on my experience with the Opinel steels.

Glad I happened to wake up at 4 in the morning

I know this video is old but an Opinel is slightly convex ground. If you go grinding a perfect v grind/scandi you defeat the purpose of the convex. Even most scandi grinds go with a micro bevel for durability. If you had stayed with the convex grind you would have had less issues with edge retention. This video does a great job of showing the difference a micro bevel makes though!

"Cartoonishly sharp" is probably my favourite way I've heard to address a very sharp knife

The impact on the wood is the biggest factor in all these tests

So this is is 13 degree per side and microbevelled to what degree per side? Thanks!

I think testing some ceramic blades would be interesting.

My brother managed to roll the edge of his opinel just by carving some pine wood. Delicate knife

I know the video is way old, but Opinel are a completely convex blade, so I think chucking a bevel on it, whatever size it is, takes away from the magic of the Opinel. A quick strop, with a light convex edge will provide the sharpest edge, by default. I think that you are trying to do something with this style of knife that it just wasn’t meant to do... I think if you have a look at Opinel videos @OPINELOFFICIAL and look for the video titled ‘how we make opinel blades’ you will see what I mean. Nice video format, I just noticed and felt compelled to mention this about these knives in particular😊🔪

I used to cut a lot of manila tag lines an that opinel always out cut my spyderco in vg10

Lol. Looks like that springy steels can't handle it. Thin stock with quite a bit of flex don't like it that steep. Very intetesting and appreciated. You got to do a mid and super steel say SV30 and CPM 110v or similar. Your just gonna keep on working your way up slowly I can see it. It's a bit like waiting for Christmas as a kid. Can I open my presents now. No son you'll have to wait. BUT I CAN'T. Putting that mucro bevel on worked wonders though. Good stuff. ATB for the Used To Be Great Britain.

It really seems like very obtuse microbevels work best on thin knives and fine angles best on thick blade stock. Would be nice to test a very high toughness thin knife with a 13 degree edge.

Never take the South Park bit out haha

Opinel and s.a.k. i have several.love it

is that nr 9 model?

Cartoonishly sharp!

I think that using the Tormek was the worst choice for this knife... They ones I have come with a full convex and that is not a micro bevel but just the convex increasing right at the edge(at least that is what it looks like under high magnification... You should get something with real magnification and look at your edges... It is amazing what you can discover about sharpening doing that! The Tormek puts a slight concave edge on the knife, and while on a normal blade at a normal angle, that is not much of a problem, with a blade as thin at that, at an angle as low as that, it is going to leave the carbides at the edge of the blade with no support...

I really like the Opinel. So slicey. I wonder if it meets the ‘penknife’ vague af definition in the Qld legislation?

man those intros are fucking amazing !!!

Good or bad please ? how much it can get from 10 ?

You said cartoonishly sharp even mini scandi. I have a friend named Derek Bergstrom. I have a WE and a KO worksharp I have been sharpening since 2010. Still to this day though when I have something that is perfect and sharper than the rest I refer to it as Derek sharp. Please keep this to the max series going Derek has told me for years thin is better and I was resistant. Your tests are proof thin is better. Your WS edges at 20dps do not cut as much rope as a 17dps edge and now you are doing 12-13 dps edges and they are cutting longer. Just like with this opinel it was too thin and failed. Microbevels easily fix this then you learn optimum sharpening angles for these steels. Like I said PLEASE keep this to the MAX series going besides I love seeing the tormek in action as it is a sharpener I want and don't have. I love opinels please test the stainless one as I have had better results with their stainless than carbon.

Pete, you got the steel wrong, Opinel calls it C90, not X90 (though I do get the mistake because the AFNOR Name for it is XC90). It`s the same composition as 1086 High Carbon (which sucks). 1086 is known for being tough rather than edge holding, and it rusts like crazy, that`s pretty much the experience I had with my Opinel as well. I havn`t seen any other production knife maker use that steel, it`s ancient and utterly outdated, even 1095 and 1075 look good in comparison because those at least hold an edge decently.

thank you

Enjoyable premise but a couple of quick things. To me any razor sharp knife on a wooden chopping board is an absolute no-no. I'd be cautious even on a soft nylon one. For me it will be interesting to have the rope cut in free air. also using the grinder and buffer is there any chance that you might have altered the temper of the steel on a microscopic level , just enough to soften the very edge??

This is why I stick with my custom Esse6

Well, I wasn't going to comment. Then I thought I might. reguardless on your findings are,..honestly, as a normal person. This knife, and I have and use opinels.., when used properly, as a folding knife..yes, 2 thumbs up

I bought an Opie and broke the blade the day after I bought it. I took it back and got a free replacement. Within the week it was also broken. I got a Buck 110 to replace it and carried it YEARS doing nothing but sharpening and adding a drop of oil occasionally. Several years later a friend convinced me to get another Opinel. Several months later it broke. That was the early 90's. In 2008 I was in an online knife forum and several people raved about how great Opies were. When I shared my experiences, most everyone said it was just terrible luck, and that Opies were the greatest thing since sliced bread. I gave in and bought another. Yep. Broken blade. No more, I am cursed to never have a good Opinel. I still have a few Cold Steel Twistmasters around, no problem with them, but no more Opinels for me. Ever.

It needs a "nano-bevel", like it was when new out of the box.

I hate to be that guy but I can't help but notice you keep talking about "higher angles" when you mean lower angles. 13 degrees is lower than 20 ;) Keep up the great work mate!

I know I am a bit late to add to the comments. I think a contributing factor to it failing is that the Opinel is already ground very thin. A thin flat grind. If you then sharpen to a very shallow angle you have very little steel to support your thin sharpening grind.

I found with sharpening an opinel doesn’t take much such a thin blade you can actually wear it away prematurely I just use a fine Arkansas‘s wet stone and touch it up and I’ve lost probably two mil off the blade in 40 years and it’s had lots of work it’s not just sharpening it’s wearing your blade away prematurely taking too much off

To Those Who Fight Further 💪

You really hate rope.

#10 opinel ,,the blade is so thin ive never ground my blade just stroped and it works good that way

@Cedric, you’re doing better and better story telling!

soo, according to a steel source book, X90 steel seems to be the DIN number for AISI 440b... and i am so confused/in shock, i thought 440 steels are stainless o_0

You thought you had more rope turns out you forgot you used it on that one lady a fortnight ago

It's actually lower angles, not higher. 12 degrees per side is lower than 17 degrees per side.

my opinel 8 stainless is literally a zero grind

ok so micro bevel

I don't get this one. Sorry.

I thought Opinel uses XC90.

26 degrees inclusive/13 DPS on an Opinel? Why such an obtuse angle? Try 10 DPS/ 20 degrees inclusive or even 9 DPS/18 degrees inclusive. That's what I run mine at. Gitting a wood cutting board don't dull them. They cut more than once, and the edges don't roll or chip.

this is

So opinel kicks victorionox ass..

Hey, you dont cut sisel rope out in the bush bro, worrk with that knife proper. You can sharpen it proper but.... you beat this knife more than normal

the music drove me away. Great video until then.

Wrong sharpening! Hold IT completely flat and rub it on any stone! (Granite) done this the last 35 years! Sharpening with machine is good for Inox( stainless steel). In fact , the angle of the knife must remain the same all over the blade.... greetings from the Netherlands.